NI 131 - Delayed transfers of care from hospitals

The rate of delayed transfers of care from all NHS hospitals per 100,000 population aged 18+. A delayed transfer of care occurs when a patient is ready for transfer from a hospital bed, but is still occupying such a bed. A patient is ready for transfer when: [a] a clinical decision has been made that the patient is ready for transfer AND; [b] a multi-disciplinary team decision has been made that the patient is ready for transfer AND; [c] the patient is safe to discharge/transfer. This therefore measures the ability of the whole system to ensure appropriate discharge for the whole population passing through hospital and is an indicator of the effectiveness of the interface between health and social care services.